How To Ask AI the Right Questions: Best Practices

Asking AI the Right Questions

Brief Overview

Interacting with AI chatbots requires accuracy to optimize user experience and obtain desired outcomes. Challenges arise when users fail to articulate queries effectively, leading to misunderstood requests and irrelevant responses.

Therefore, it is important to learn how to ask AI chatbots the right questions, and to follow some best practices that we present further.

The importance of asking questions correctly lies in improving the chatbot’s potential to assist users, saving time and effort in finding accurate information.

Mastering this skill will help you to get the best out of conversations with AI.

Best Practices for Interacting with AI

Here are some widely accepted best practices that can produce the best results in your conversations with AI chatbots:

1️⃣ Be Specific and Clear

Use simple and precise language, and provide enough information for an AI chatbot to understand your query.

Avoid ambiguous questions that might confuse the AI chatbot or lead to irrelevant or inaccurate answers.

❌ Instead of: “What is the best movie?”

✅ Ask: “What is the best movie in the fantasy genre released in 2023?”

2️⃣ Provide Context and Details

Offer relevant context or background information when necessary to assist AI chatbots in delivering more accurate responses.

❌ Instead of: “When is the next flight?”

✅ Ask “I need to travel from London to New York next week. When is the next available flight to New York?”

3️⃣ Stay Focused and Relevant

Ask questions within the scope and domain of the AI chatbot, and avoid asking overly complex or open-ended questions that might require human judgment or reasoning. Use keywords or phrases that are related to your topic.

❌ Instead of: “How can I be happy?”

✅ Ask: “What are some tips for improving my mood?”

4️⃣ Ask One Question at a Time

Present one question per interaction to prevent confusion and ensure the AI chatbot can focus on providing a precise response.

Avoid bundling multiple queries together when possible and when this is not integral to the nature of your prompt.

❌ Instead of: “How far is Iceland from Greenland and what is the easiest way to get to Greenland from Iceland?”

✅ Separate this query into two distinct questions.

5️⃣ Avoid Slang and Technical Terms

AI chatbots may not be familiar with specialized jargon or technical terms. Formulate questions using natural language, making it easier for the AI chatbot to understand.

❌ Instead of: “Hey, bro, enlighten me. How legit is the impact of quantum computing on cybersecurity?”

✅ Ask: “Explain, how the use of quantum computing affects the security of computer systems?”

Chat GPT Survey 👇

6️⃣ Be polite and Respectful

Remember to use polite language and be respectful when interacting with AI chatbots.

Avoid criticism or negative words that might affect the AI chatbot’s performance or behavior.

❌ Instead of: “Where is the nearest supermarket, you stupid bot?”

✅ Ask: “Can you find the nearest supermarket for me, please?”

7️⃣ Refine Your AI Prompting Skills

Efficient interaction with AI chatbots is not limited by the tips listed above. There are many more conversational practices that AI experts recommend. You can also use AI prompt generators to further raise your AI questioning game.

AI Prompt Generator is a tool that uses natural language processing and machine learning techniques to create effective prompts for AI tools like ChatGPT or Bard.

Questions to Avoid Asking AI

While AI chatbots are designed to provide helpful responses, there are certain types of questions that users should avoid. Asking the wrong questions can lead to inaccurate or inappropriate answers, compromise privacy and security, or even offend users.

Here is a general list of questions that AI chatbots will struggle with and produce irrelevant, inaccurate, or counterproductive results:

• Questions involving personal information: Asking questions that may reveal your personal or sensitive data. AI chatbots are not designed to handle such information securely, and there is a risk of exposing it to unauthorized parties.
• Questions requiring personal opinion and experience: AI chatbots are not human and do not have emotions or feelings. Asking them questions that are too personal or sensitive, such as about their identity, beliefs, or feelings, can be inappropriate or irrelevant.
• Questions on predicting the future: AI models are not built with the ability to predict future events with certainty.
• Questions involving illegal activities: Most AI chatbots are programmed to follow legal and ethical guidelines, and promoting illegal activities related to hacking, fraud, etc. goes against these principles.
• Questions that are too vague or ambiguous: Even though AI chatbots rely on NLP, natural language can be ambiguous or context-dependent, and can have multiple meanings or interpretations. E.g. using metaphors in your query can confuse the AI chatbot and lead to misunderstanding.
• Questions that are too complex or abstract: AI chatbots can struggle with answering complex, abstract, or open-ended questions that require human judgment, reasoning, or creativity. For instance, “What is the meaning of life?”, “What is the best way to solve world hunger?”.
• Questions seeking medical advice: While some AI chatbots may claim to provide medical advice, they are not qualified healthcare professionals. Relying on AI for medical advice can lead to inaccurate information or misdiagnosis.

🚨 Check also ⬇️
▶️ How to Learn AI: A Simple Guide for Beginners
▶️ Chat GPT Is Slow: What To Do?

Brief Summary

AI chatbots are powerful and versatile tools that can help us access information, solve problems, and generate ideas. Asking them the right questions is essential for effective interactions.

It is important to avoid asking irrelevant or abstract questions that can cause problems or confusion. Instead, we should follow general best practices to improve our interactions with AI and leverage the power and potential of AI language models.

By mastering the skill of correct asking, you will transform AI chatbots from regular information providers into powerful tools for exploration, discovery, and personal growth.